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Brooks spins around and pours himself another glass of whiskey. I hear him murmur, “Talk about an insta-fucking-family,” before downing his drink.
***
“What now?” I say as Aiden holds the door open for me, and we walk out of Brooks’s building.
Aiden slips his hand through mine, stopping me, and glances down into my eyes. “I think we have a wedding to plan.” He wags his eyebrows.
I drop my shoulders and my lips turn downward. “Really? That’s it. You’re moving onto the next thing?”
He looks around and shakes his head slightly. “Addison, that up there,” he says, pointing up at the building, “that is not our problem now. That is between Brooks and Jessie.”
“But Presley is my niece. And soon to be yours, too.”
“This is exactly what Jessie wanted. Don’t let her come in the middle of our life.”
“I’m not. We’re still going to get married, Aiden. But…” I pause, wondering why I feel like I need to do something, “…I mean I haven’t even seen her in person.”
“No. We are not going to the hospital.” I stare at him. His jaw is set and his eyes have me pinned. I cross my arms and huff at his domineering posture. A loud horn pulls my attention toward the street. People are starting to get off work, crowding around us.
“Fine,” I snap when it’s obvious he’s not going to back down. “But that up there…” I point up, mimicking him, “…that’s my brother, and we just turned his world upside-down. We left him pissed off and confused. I feel like I should do something.”
Aiden blows out a breath, his expression softening, and he takes a step toward me. I cross my arms in defiance. “Addison, he has a lot to think about. I know you’re having to deal with new feelings for a brother and a niece that you didn’t know you had until a few hours ago, but everything can’t be dealt with today.” He grabs my arm, unwrapping it from my body, and then my other arm. He pulls me into him and rests his forehead on mine. “Let me have tonight to celebrate that I’m not the father. Tomorrow, after Brooks has time to let this all sink in, we’ll call him and talk some more.”
I close my eyes, feeling like shit now. Crap.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think about how this has affected you.” I open my eyes and gaze into emerald eyes. I rub my hand along his jawline, his five o’clock shadow rough against my palm. “Tonight, let’s celebrate. No more talk about Brooks, Jessie, or Presley.”
“One last thing I want to say before we stop talking about them…thank you for standing next to me, supporting me even when you didn’t know.”
“I did know and there isn’t anywhere else I wanted to be than by your side. You’ve stood by me through a lot worse, even when I destroyed you with my words. You fought for me. For us. It was my turn to do the fighting.”
Chapter seven
“I swear, I’m telling him you have gonorrhea.”
Sydney, mouth full of water, bursts out laughing, spraying water everywhere. I just told her about Brooks. Everything from him being my brother to him being Presley’s father. The first thing she asks is if he’s single. Really? That’s what she got out of the whole story?
“I’m totally kidding,” she says through her laughs. I roll my head against the lounger, over to her direction, and push my sunglasses up, narrowing my eyes. “I am!” I shake my head, not believing her. We just finished working out and now we’re lounging by the gym pool. Aiden is still working out and will bring Lexi here to swim when he’s done. I figure I’ll enjoy this free few minutes and soak up some sun before they come out.
“I don’t believe you.” I look back toward the sky, pulling my sunglasses down.
“What? We could be real sisters. He’s also hot and a millionaire,” she says jokingly.
“I think you have enough men in your life.”
“Seriously, I was kidding.” She leans over and hits me on the shoulder. “Anyway, I just have one man in my life.” I look over at her again and raise my brows in surprise. She shrugs and reclines. “Damon and I have decided we are going to be exclusive.”
I bolt up. “Really?” I like her and Damon together, I just didn’t know if they would work out because of her hooking up with Max a few months ago.
“Yep. We’ve been seeing a lot of each other, and he asked me the other day what I thought about us being together. I told him I really like him. I mean, hell, I’ve always liked him. He’s the one who couldn’t commit.”
“And Max?” I say, wincing, not wanting to bring it up.
“We talked about it. I told him it was a one-night stand on a drunken, emotional night and it meant nothing. Max said the same thing to him.”
“Did it really mean nothing?”
Syd sighs. “Max are I are nothing alike. It was never more than a sexual attraction. I never really liked Max.” She looks at me, waiting for a response. I just nod. I don’t think that’s all it was, but who am I to say anything. “I really, really like Damon.”
